What's in a name?
by WriterKos
Summary: the time of reckoning is come. Buchanan doesn't get mad, she gets even with DiNozzo and his name calling. Set anytime shortly after Entertaining and Honor Bound and BEFORE Connecting the dots. Part of the Joy Buchanan universe. NEW CHAPTERS ADDED!
1. Don't get mad

_**What's in a name – **_the time of reckoning is come. Buchanan doesn't get mad, she gets even with DiNozzo and his name calling_**. **_Set anytime after Entertaining and Honor Bound.

**_Don't get mad_**

_What's in a name? That which we call a rose_  
_By any other name would smell as sweet._

_**Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, Act II, Scene 2, by Shakespeare**_

"Don't get sick on the crime scene, McBarf Bag."

"McCranky woke up on the wrong side of the bed today."

"McDetail, where is my list?"

"McFreaky, where did you get that tie?"

"McGoogle, nobody likes a know-it-all,"

"Boss, I think McGPS got us lost. Again."

"Probie"

"Probie-san"

"Hey, Probie wan Kenobi"

"Probie."

"Probie."

"Probie."

"Probie."

"Probie."

"Will you please SHUT UP!" shouts Joy at DiNozzo, surprising both McGee and Ziva, who stop to stare at their teammate. During the first months of Joy Buchanan's stay in NCIS, Tony knew not to call McGee anything other than his own name, as the new agent was very sensitive to his joking and always corrected him, but he had forgotten, and returned to his old ingrained habit of razzing his colleague.

Tony looks at her, as if she had grown a second head, "what is the problem, Probette?"

She squints her eyes, and approaches Tony, who finally realizes that he is in very present danger of being hurt badly, menacingly. "My name is Joy Buchanan, not Probette, and if you call me that again, we will have new art on the walls of the squad room, because I will decorate the walls of the bullpen with your guts," she hisses, "and use your scalp as a trophy on my desk," she says, mad with fury.

Tony gulps, but stands his ground, "come on, you don't have to be so sensitive, it is only friendly banter, McGoo knows that it is…"

"McGee." "Yes." I'm not talking to you," she says, looking at her new partner. She looks at Tony, "his name is McGee, Timothy McGee," she shakes her head, "how many times do I have to tell you that so that it can enter your thick skull that his name," she approaches Tony and start pronouncing each word slowly, as if to a child, "is Timothy McGee," she stares Tony in the eyes, and, even though she is quite shorter than the senior agent, he is properly intimidated.

"I know his name is McGee, but…"

"Do you have any idea how demeaning is every single time you create one of your silly nicknames for him? Do you even imagine the type of mental scars they might create?"

That shuts up Tony, who looks chagrined at McGee, who is looking at Buchanan with an astonished expression.

He still tries to salvage the situation, "he's a big boy, if he was uncomfortable with this he would have said something before, you don't have to defend him."

"It doesn't matter," Buchanan shakes her head at Tony, not pissed off at him, just sad, "it still hurts, regardless of what you might think." She studies Tony for a second, "If I hear you saying any other demeaning nickname to him," she points to McGee, and looks cunningly at Tony, "you will be in for the surprise of your lifetime," and she turns, goes to her desk and goes back to work.

Tony looks at McGee, who still has an astonished expression on his face thanks to the fierce protection of his new partner, and then at Ziva, who can barely contain her mirth at the show she just watched.

"At least she didn't threaten you with paperclips," says Ziva, who is playing with her paperclips, looking at him, smiling.

Tony goes back go his desk, sits down, all the time muttering under his breath about crazy hormonal women with murderous tendencies.

He watched out so he would not incite the new teammember's wrath again, but he got lazy and comfortable, and of course, he forgot (or simply didn't want to believe in) the death threats given by Buchanan.

"Oh great McOz, how can't you find a single file I ask you to look for me?

"ARRGGGH!"

They only heard her roar before her attack.

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	2. Get Even

_**Get even**_

The doors of the elevator open and Gibbs, with his fresh piping hot coffee in hand, enters the bullpen. Nothing like his twice double expresso to make his day better, he approaches his teammates and he suddenly starts to walk slower, staring at his senior agent, until he finally stops before his desk.

His senior agent, the very special Agent DiNozzo is moaning. And tied up with duct tape all over himself, his arms and legs bound to his own chair, and a small piece of silver duct tape was covering his mouth. His eyes were agitated, begging for help.

Gibbs looks at the other agents. McGee is calmly typing on his computer, he only glances briefly at Gibbs, says "Hi, Boss," and goes back to work. Ziva is looking at something on her computer, but she has a smart smile on her face, she looks at Gibbs, smirks, and goes back to work.

He approaches her desk, looks back at DiNozzo, and asks "Do I even want to know?". Her smile gets even bigger. "Probably not," she keeps on typing.

He sees Buchanan coming from the break room with a bottle of water and some chocolate bars. She approaches him, "Hi, Boss," glances at DiNozzo slyly, throws a chocolate bar to Ziva, another to McGee and goes to her desk. Still standing, she rips the package and starts eating, "uhm, good chocolate."

Gibbs looks back at Tony, who is moving his head sideways, and looking at the new agent with fear in his eyes. Gibbs looks at Buchanan, she has a tiny smile on her face, and she keeps on eating her chocolate bar and looking at Gibbs, just waiting for him to say anything.

"Care to explain?"

"He pissed me off." She shrugs, looking down at the chocolate and peeling the plastic off the candy and Tony moans.

Gibbs looks back at his senior agent, who has his eyes closed and is shaking his head. He opens his eyes and pleads with his eyes to be set free.

Buchanan sees his desperation, approaches the senior agent and none too gently rips the duct tape from his face.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH", he shouts in pain.

"Don't be a wuss, Tony," she says smiling, turns and return to her desk.

Gibbs is staring downhis agent, who is making faces to get the sensation back. After some moments, he looks up, "Boss, she's crazy, she attacked me!"

"She gave you fair warning, Tony," says McGee, as he turns on his chair and looks at his tormentor of so many years, "she told you you would regret it." He smiles.

"Look at the bright side," says Ziva, at least she didn't use your insides as modern art," she smirks.

Gibbs looks at Ziva, and she smiles at him and goes back to her work. Gibbs approaches DiNozzo. "What brought this on?" "She attacked me after I asked McGeek something, I don't remember boss, she just…"

She heard him again, and approaches his desk with determination, "how did you call McGee this time? I don't think I heard it correctly." Tony shuts up. "You are crazy," he mutters. She smiles, "I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every single moment of it." Tony gulps. "Now," she points to McGee, "let's do a refresher course: What is his name?"

"McG…" she gets the duct tape and gets a piece of it, and his eyes become huge. "McGee, his name is McGee," her smiles gets bigger, "and what is my name?"

He gulps, "Buchanan, Joy Buchanan," she puts the tape down. "Very good, now if we repeat this exercise everyday you might remember that," she turns around, smiles at Gibbs, and starts returning to her desk. "Hey, I've learnt my lesson, can't you set me free?"

She looks back at him and shrugs, "why should I?" Tony fidgets in his chair, and moves his arms, trying to set them free from the duct tape that holds them against the chair. "I need to go to the men's room." She keeps looking at him for some seconds, without expression on her face. She turns, goes to her desk, and comes back to with a paper cup in her hands.

She approaches him, puts the paper cut in the middle of his legs, between his knees, closes them holding the cup firmly there, and "Good luck," she stands up and walks away, "I hope you are good at aiming that."

Gibbs shakes his head, and Tony is looking at the cup with a horrified face.

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	3. What's in a name?

_****__****__****__****__**Set sometime in Season 7. No copyright infringement intended. Not making any money out of it. Etc Etc.**_

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_**What's in a name?**_

The agents kept working until late, and Gibbs finally signalled them to shut up shop and go home.

The agents started shutting their computers down, gathering their things and coats. DiNozzo kept watching himself the whole day, trying not to invent nicknames as, every time he started saying a name, she would look at him and show him her duct tape roll. He would reconsider immediately.

Ziva could barely contain her mirth, as she realized she had found a colleague in torturing and intimidating DiNozzo. She did it with paperclips, Buchanan with duct tape.

After a lot of whining, Gibbs ordered him released from his makeshift prison and, as soon as he was free, he went running to the men's room to take care of his business, hearing the laughter of his teammates.

Tony had a very thoughtful expression on his face, as he was putting his jacket on, covering his shoulder holster, when he turned to Buchanan and simply asked, "Why?"

She glances at him briefly and keeps on buttoning up her overcoat.

"Why what, DiNozzo?"

"Why are you so….. Prickly about this?" he glances at McGee, who had frozen, putting his scarf around his neck, and his eyes were running from Tony to Joy, just waiting for an explosive reaction on her part again.

She stops for a moment, turns to Tony and studies him for a moment. She sees that, for once, he's being totally serious so she answers his question with another question, "What is my name, Tony?"

Tony smiles, and looks at the other agents, Ziva and Gibbs are also watching the interaction, wanting to see where they would take this conversation.

"What, have you forgotten it?"

"No, I haven't forgotten my own name," she says completely serious, "I just want you to tell me what is my name," He thinks for a moment, and says, "Joy Buchanan," she nods.

"Why did my parents name me Joy?" she wants to know, looking at him, completely serious, "am I a particularly jolly person? The joy of the party? Someone whose single presence can illuminate a room? Or do I entertain people with my rapier wit?"

"Ah…. Ahh…" he thinks about it, and sees her approaching him, he doesn't want to offend her being truthful, but he can't lie either, "no, you're not, you are…" he looks at her and she is studying him, "you are not a very happy person," he then continues, "sometimes you are pretty much…" he pauses, and she is just waiting for him to continue, so he does, "sometimes you are very much sour and bitter," he says truthfully, fully expecting her to deck him as soon as his words were out of his mouth.

She doesn't do that, simply nods.

"Then why did they name me Joy?"

"Ah, I have no idea."

Buchanan scratches her head for a moment, using the time to gather her thoughts. She looks lost for a moment, and DiNozzo feels he is going to regret asking it.

She starts softly, "we were nine siblings, all children of the reverend, studying in the same school, having the same friends, visiting the same places. Our names were very hard to ignore in a small town in the middle of rural America," she looks up at him, "all of the girls were given names related to the fruits of the Spirit, the boys, the four gospels. I think that,if it were only one or two, I think probably it would have been unremarkable, no one would have really noticed, as they weren't strange names at all, but we were nine," pause, "so we were an easy target."

"It was as if we had this huge bull's-eye on our backs, just waiting for the first joke, the first bully to come over and mock us. And they always came. The boys would always get home nursing bruises or having been sent to detention. First they were beaten, but once they grew up and filled out, they started fighting back. After they entered boot camp, and became marines, no one dared mock them ever again."

"With us girls the process was bloodless, but not less painful. The wars were fought with wit and words, backstabs and treason. Some whispered words here, some lies told there, and suddenly we would find our names being dragged into one or another scandal or," she laughs, but there is no joy in it, as Tony can see that she is remembering a very painful moment, she pauses for a moment, she looks at him and says, "or have your name spray-painted on the headmaster's car saying that you are the 'Joyful whore' of the senior year," she makes quotation marks with her fingers, "that definitely tops any other humiliation I can remember right now."

"I really don't remember how many times dad had to collect me from the headmaster's office because I had attacked someone who had insulted me or my sisters. Or because someone had completely humiliated us. I just remember that there were many times."

She pauses, and studies DiNozzo.

"Just someone who had been through that can fully understand how painful it is to have your name mocked and twisted into something that it's not," she looks DiNozzo in the eye, trying to make her point, "because it is hurtful and mean, and twists around something that was supposed to be important," she shrugs, "it isn't by chance that we were given the names we were, but when someone does that, they disregard everything, all the hopes and dreams our parents had when they gave this name to us."

She looks around, and sees the team watching her attentively. She takes a deep breath, and continues, "I was named Joy because dad said that I was a ray of sunshine in his life, something that changed his perception of things, of what was really important and what wasn't, and that every single day he thanked God for my being given such a joy in his life," she looks back at Tony, and he has a thoughtful expression on his face.

"You might think that, just because you do it for fun, and because you two," she points to McGee and DiNozzo, "are good friends, it won't hurt, but it does, every single time. Just because it is a joke, it doesn't mean it would hurt less."

"A name is much more than just a title, a label that your parents chose randomly once you were born. Most the time, they spent several months trying to decide just the perfect name, which will accompany you throughout your life. But that name must also represent something, almost like a wish of who your parents expect you to be."

"Why don't we talk about your name, Anthony?"

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	4. Antonius

**____****__****__****__****__****Set sometime in Season 7. No copyright infringement intended. Not making any money out of it. Etc Etc**

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_****__Antonius_

_So it should be, that none but Antony__  
__Should conquer Antony. (4.13.14) **– Antony and Cleopatra, William Shakespeare. **_

DiNozzo looks at her, surprised at her. He thinks for a second that she will mock and butcher his name, as he has been doing with McGee's, but he is surprised when she, instead, gives him a history lesson.

"Anthony is the English form of the Roman family name Antonius, which is of unknown Etruscan origins. However, somehow it officially appeared in the history books thanks to the most notable family member of this family, Marcus Antonius, who ruled the Roman Empire jointly with Augustus," she frowns, "sometime later on, the relationship between the two Caesars became strained, and he and his mistress, Cleopatra, were forced to commit suicide."

"However, up until this day, plays, songs, poems immortalize the genius of the man and statesman that he was. Thanks to the Roman Empire, we have access to math, physics, theology, philosophy. Actually, most of our culture is directly or indirectly related to the works and wars of those two great Caesars. They started to rule in a decadent state, and created a machine of war, that bulldozed everything in its path and created the _Pax Romana._"

"Thanks to his works and efforts, the whole known world of that time spoke the same language, had the same currency, had the same governors and the same central government when Christ was born, which helped greatly to spread the Word once the time was right."

"Every single Anthony in history is meant to do great deeds, it just might not be necessarily recognized as something great later on in history books, but the marks and effects of it will linger for thousand years."

The team is listening to her attentively, and she looks at the other members of the team and they are mesmerized by her storytelling. She looks at Ziva, and smiles, "why don't we talk about Ziva's name now?"

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	5. Ziva

_********____****__****__****__****__**Set sometime in Season 7. No copyright infringement intended. Not making any money out of it. Etc Etc.**_

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_**Ziva**_

_**Means "bright, radiant" in Hebrew. This was the ancient name of the second month of the Jewish calendar.**_

"In Jewish tradition, the parents pray to Yahweh to guide them to name the baby just born. The child is rarely named at birth, as they have a ceremony to announce the world the chosen name of the child."

Ziva nods, and says, "the boys are named during the circumcision ceremony, while the girls are either named during the reading of the Torah or in a privately held ceremony, usually at the grandparents' house."

Joy smiles, "Ziva means 'bright, radiant' in Hebrew. It is also the ancient name for the second month of the Jewish calendar," her grin gets bigger, "whoever decided that she should be named like that, they must have foreseen how important she would be in our lives," she looks at the three men standing around her, and they all nod, "because she's not only the crazy ninja assassin that can kill you with a paperclip," she looks at Tony, who looks at Ziva and grins, "but also a faithful friend," she looks at McGee, who looks at Ziva and grins too, "and a dutiful daughter," and looks at Gibbs, who smirks, but doesn't look at Ziva, he wants to see where his agent is going with her story, "but she is also a fresh breeze who brings joy and happiness in our lives," she looks at Ziva, and she is smiling, enchanted, back at Joy, "not only with her butchering of the English language," all men cringe a little at that, "which I'm sure she sometimes does it on purpose," Ziva smirks naughtily, "but also because she is simply a great person to have around."

Ziva is smiling, and the three men are smiling as well at the interpretation given by Joy.

She turns to Gibbs, "what about your name, do you have idea why you have this name?"

He shakes his head in negative. She smiles.

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	6. Jethro

_****__********____****__****__****__****__**Set sometime in Season 7. No copyright infringement intended. Not making any money out of it. Etc Etc.**_

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**_Jethro_**

**_From the Hebrew name _****_יִתְרוֹ_****_(Yitro), which was derived from the Hebrew word _****_יֶתֶר_****_(yeter) meaning "abundance". Jethro was the father of Moses' wife Zipporah in the _****_Old Testament_****_._**

_1.__Now Jethro, the priest of Midian and father-in-law of Moses, heard of everything God had done for Moses and for his people Israel, and how the LORD had brought Israel out of Egypt._

_(…)_

_14__ When his father-in-law saw all that Moses was doing for the people, he said, "What is this you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit as judge, while all these people stand around you from morning till evening?" _

_(…)_

_17__ Moses' father-in-law replied, "What you are doing is not good. __18__ You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone. __19__ Listen now to me and I will give you some advice, and may God be with you. You must be the people's representative before God and bring their disputes to him. __20__ Teach them the decrees and laws, and show them the way to live and the duties they are to perform. __21__ But select capable men from all the people—men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain—and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. __22__ Have them serve as judges for the people at all times, but have them bring every difficult case to you; the simple cases they can decide themselves. That will make your load lighter, because they will share it with you. __23__ If you do this and God so commands, you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied." _

_24__ Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he said._

_**Exodus, 18: 1, 14, 17-24. Holy Bible, New International Version **_

"Jethro is a biblical name. It comes from the Hebrew name Yitro, which by the way comes from the Hebrew word yeter, that means 'abundance'," Joy looks at Ziva, and she nods, her translation is correct, and then continues, "in the Bible, Jethro was the father of Moses' wife Zipporah, in the Old Testament. He is not frequently mentioned in it, but his importance is directly connected to the successful career of Moses."

Gibbs smirks at Joy, folds his arms and leans back on his desk, supporting his six on the tabletop, and is listening to the history lesson. Joy is getting excited about the story, and keeps on, "You see, when Moses came to live in the desert, right after killing the Egyptian, he was a fugitive that by law should be killed. Not only that, he was a spoiled brat, too full of himself, who grew up with a life full of comforts and pleasure, while his people was suffering and being enslaved. In his arrogance, he thought that he could save his peopleby his own strength, so he killed a man, hid the body and expected everything to be the same as always. When his acts were revealed, and his capture ordered by Pharaoh himself, he had to run as fast as he could, and was found by Jethro's family."

Gibbs is watching Joy, and she smiles at him, "he took that spoiled brat, gave him a job, forced him to have responsibility and character, gave him his daughter as wife, trusted his property in his hands, as the cattle he looked after did not belong to him,it belonged to his father-in-law, and," she shakes her head, and "whenever he was out of line, I'm sure that he did not hesitate in use his shepherd's rod on Moses' head or on his backside to teach him a lesson or two whenever he did something wrong," Gibbs smirks and looks at Tony and McGee, who fidget where they are standing.

"You see, he took that spoiled brat, and turned him into the greatest statesman Israel has ever seen, surpassed in name and ability several centuries later only by King David himself," she looks at Ziva, who nods in agreement, "he trained and prepared Moses to do what he had to do, what he was meant to do, and he was still alive to see the result of his work," she smiles, "he didn't appear in history pages as one of the top five, but Moses wouldn't have done what he did if he hadn't learnt how to deal with responsibility from Jethro."

Joy then turns and looks at McGee, who was just enjoying the stories told, and she approaches him and stands before him, "and then, we have Timothy McGee."

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	7. McGee

_****__****__**Set sometime in Season 7. No copyright infringement intended. Not making any money out of it. Etc Etc.**_

**_

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McGee

**_Honestum Praetulit Utili  
__"He has preferred honesty to advantage" McGee's family Motto_**

**Mcgee Meaning: the son of Aodh (fire).**

"We have two parts, both equally important, in your name. I'm going to start with your family name. "

"Contrary to popular belief, McGee and its variations are not a Scottish name, but Irish. These M'Ghies migrated to Scotland and settled there for over a thousand years, but some branches of the family name finally ended when a descendancy to female lines ended their reign."

"In the seventeenth century the migration movement was the other way around, with Scots and English moving into Ireland, specifically in an area named Ulster, in the north of the island. The McGees settled in Ireland until the start of the American Revolution that motivated these families to move to the new world. This period, and the great potato famine in the nineteenth century are the roots of many McGees that settled here in America."

"The name McGee means the son of Aodh, which means fire in old Gaelic. They remained prominent throughout Irish history, as they were very vocal in their discontent with tyranny against less fortunate people or against the abuses of the church."

"McGees are also the central point of one of the bloodiest episodes of conflict between Protestants and Catholics, which happened on Island McGee. The historical data is a little sketchy, but they say that the Protestant garrison brutally killed and slaughtered over 50 Catholic families, named McGee, in retaliation for the killing of their own wives and children after an amnesty. Death was paid with death, and the name McGee was eradicated from the island. Again, most of the story is speculation, as there is no written record of it anywhere."

"Their family motto in Latin is Honestum Praetulit Utili, which means '_He has preferred honesty to advantage'._ Many of the McGees of old not only had this motto, but they lived it every single day of their lives. They were writers, poets, clergyman and women, statesman who dedicated their lives to fight tyranny and corruption."

She stops, and keeps looking McGee in the eye. He is mesmerized by the story she is telling, _she would make a good writer_, he thinks. At that moment, it was as if they were alone in the bullpen, and they simply forgot about the other agents observing them.

"The McGees that came to America became writers, politicians, journalists, even," she pointed to McGee before her, "federal agents," they smile at each other, "McGee is a worthy name, and it shouldn't be mocked as it's not only a label given to you, it is also a metaphor of who you are."

She leans over, and says softly, "don't ever let anyone else mock it again."

She takes a step back, looks around at the other agents, and smiles, "however, my favorite is still Timothy."

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	8. Timothy

_****__****__**Set sometime in Season 7. No copyright infringement intended. Not making any money out of it. Etc Etc.**_

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__**Timothy**_

_From the Greek name __Τιμοθεος__ (Timotheos) meaning "honouring God", derived from __τιμαω__ (timao) "to honour" and __θεος__ (theos) " god". __Saint__ Timothy was a companion of Paul on his missionary journeys and was the recipient of two of Paul's epistles that appear in the __New Testament__. According to tradition, he was martyred at Ephesus after protesting the worship of Artemis._

_2__To Timothy my true son in the faith:  
Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. (…)_

_20__Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge, __21__which some have professed and in so doing have wandered from the faith.  
Grace be with you. (...)_

_3__I thank God, whom I serve, as my forefathers did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. __4__Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy. __5__I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also. __6__For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. __7__For God did not give us a spirit of! timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. (...)_

_9__Do your best to come to me quickly, (...)_

_21__Do your best to get here before winter. (…) _

_1 Timothy 1:2; 1 Timothy, 6:20-21; 2 Timothy , 1:3-7; 2 Timothy, 4:9; 2 Timothy 4:21 **Holy Bible, New International Version**_

"Timothy is a Greek name, and it means 'honoring God'. In its original form it is Timotheos, derived from τιμαω (timao) "to honour" and θεος (theos) "god". In the Bible, he was the faithful companion of the Apostle Paul, who traveled with him during some of his missionary trips to Europe and Asia."

"But let's see the context of the time and place where Timothy lived. He was the only son of a widowed mother, and a widowed grandmother. There is no mention of a father or grandfather in Timothy's story." She bites her lip and shakes her head, "that would be the equivalent of a dead end for any career he might want to have, as women were considered almost like nothing, and he probably had no male figure to teach him a career. He was an illiterate man, who seemed destined to be forever ignorant and poor. However, that wasn't the end, that was just the beginning."

She glances at the other agents, and keeps telling her tale, "his mother and grandmother became Christians, and soon they started to bring the young man to the early church meetings. In one of these meetings, he met the man who would literally change the path his life would take. That man was Paul."

"Paul saw great potential, courage and faith in that youth, and invited him to travel with him. Paul was a scholar, he had studied in the synagogues, which were the equivalent of the MITs of that time, his whole life, he was fluent in several languages, and he burnt with the desire to spread the world of God as far as possible. But he was only a man, he couldn't do it on his own. That's why he had Timothy."

"Timothy was his travel companion, his friend, his bookkeeper, his shoulder to cry on and to whine about the hardships and betrayals he had in his journeys. Later on, Paul even called him son. Paul never got married, never had children, but he deposited all his knowledge and his faith and his experiences in Timothy's life, and trained him to become a true believer."

"They shared prisons stays, whippings, beatings, and so many other hardships that it is hard to list them all. Some theologians say that, later in life, Timothy would help dress his old friend and mentor and tie his belt and shoes, but he still stayed by his side until the bitter end."

"Paul later was murdered as a martyr. So was Timothy. But he never gave up." She pauses, and looks Timothy in his eyes, "He never backed down."

"That illiterate son of a widow travelled the whole known ancient world, helping to spread the word of God, in a time when travel was measured by hours walking, not by cars or trains or airplanes. There was no e-mail or internet to spread information, the testimony was spread face to face with the people they met on their journeys. The books were painstakingly slow to be written, and each one was a precious jewel, that had to be transported with great care, as they were very fragile."

"Paul invited a stranger to travel with him at that first moment. He found a son and friend." Pause, "later on, in the epistles that he wrote to Timothy, he praises the faith and courage of his pupil, and complains about several people that crossed their paths, but only left disappointment and despair in their wake. Paul knew his time was short, so he begged Timothy to come visit him, as he had been always a great source of joy for the Apostle. He asks for some precious books he left behind, he greets Timothy's mother and grandmother, who he still holds dear, and again begs him to come visit him before winter."

She stops and approaches Timothy, and stands directly before him, and says, looking him in the eyes, "Timothy is not only a random name that your parents picked by accident to give you, but it also almost like a prophecy of who you are, and who you have the potential to become," Timothy is looking at her, with a completely serious expression in his face, in deep thought, she bites her lip, and says softly to him, and he can see a fine mist of tears in her eyes and voice, "you don't have to be a hero or a saint, there are plenty of those out there, you just have to be who you are, a faithful friend for the good and the bad times, especially," she smiles, "especially the bad times, because that's what really counts. You don't have to heal wounds or offer solutions to problems, but what really counts is that you just are there, not healing! , not curing, not knowing what to do next, but still there," she stops, and Timothy sees her wiping a tear that she couldn't hold back, "Timothy is a worthy name, as well as McGee is a worthy name," she approaches him and says softly close to his face, "don't ever, ever let anyone mock your name again."

She stops, and looks around the bullpen. Tony is looking deeply ashamed, his eyes downcast. Ziva is looking at Joy with tears in her eyes, deeply moved by her words. She is also ashamed, as she might not have participated in all razing and mocking Tony instigated of his junior agent, but she never stopped him either. Finally Gibbs, his eyes are fixed on a point on the wall behind Timothy, deeply in thought. He notices Joy is looking at him, and he turns his gaze at her. For a brief moment there is a deep emotion floating there, but his gaze becomes firms again, and he nods to her. _Well done_. She smiles at her Boss, takes her purse, and leaves the bullpen, and no agent moves or speaks a word as she leaves. She glances back briefly before entering the elevator, and sees the four senior agents still standing in the same position she left them. Her eyes cross those of Timothy and he is still staring at her with a thoughtful expression on his face. She steps in the elevator, and the doors close.

Only after she had already started her car and left the NCIS garage she identifies the emotion she saw in Gibbs' eyes: regret.

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Reviews are food for my soul.


	9. Ghosts from the past

___****__****__**Set sometime in Season 7. No copyright infringement intended. Not making any money out of it. Etc Etc.**_

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**Ghosts from the past**

Joy went home, but first she made a quick stop at the supermarket to buy some things. She was finishing the Bolognese sauce when she heard a soft knock on her door. She closed the burner beneath the saucepan and wiped her hands on a kitchen cloth. She approached the door and "Who's there?"

"It's me," said McGee.

She opened the door a little, and there he was, standing in black jeans and a black jacket, and his faithful backpack in his hands, "may I come in?"

"Sure," she opens the door wider, and he enters the apartment. "You came just in time for dinner," she leaves him in the foyer and goes back to the kitchen; he closes the door and follows her inside, leaving his backpack on the dinner table.

She stirs the sauce and opens a bag of pasta. She was just waiting for the water to boil so she can finally put the spaghetti in it. He leans against the fridge and just watches her for a moment, with his arms folded in front of him. He had thought a lot about what she said, "did you mean what you said tonight?"

She glances at him, and starts breaking the spaghetti in half, to submerge it in the water, "every single word of it." She gathers the dry pasta in her hand and waits for the water to reach the boiling point so she can start cooking it.

He studies her for a moment longer, and finally unfolds his arms and approaches her, turns off the burner of the spaghetti and stands behind her, with his hands on her shoulders. He leans his head forward and whispers, "I've always hated my name," his forehead touches the back of her head, "my whole life," her hands are frozen over the pan, one holding the wooden spoon, the other a portion of pasta, "I've always," pause and a shaky breath, "hated my name," he squeezes her shoulders, she lets go of the things in her hands and turns in his arms, and they look at each other, and he continues, "at home, at school, at NCIS," he closes his eyes for a moment, as if trying to gather his thoughts, "at home, Dad never really stopped being a commander," he opens his eyes, but his mind is lost in memory, he's not really there, "mom tried valiantly to make a home for me and Sarah, but he was still always ordering us around as if we were one of his officers or aides. Mom tried very hard, but she got tired of him, and divorced him when I left for University." He has tears in his eyes, "she died in the same year I started working at NCIS, a couple of months before actually, and since then it has been only me and Sarah," he shrugs, "I don't really talk to the old man since we moved in with mom. Up until then, I was little Timmy, tiny Timmy, useless Timmy, stupid Timmy…" he looks down at her, with misty eyes, "I hated every single time he pronounced my name," he looks up, and takes a deep breath, "high school wasn't any better, I was humiliated daily, being bullied by anyone or everyone who thought that geeky Timmy was an easy target," he looks down at her, and she is looking at him with sad eyes, "that was the first time I recall I was called McGeek. I believed that, once I graduated, things would be different, that when I started working at NCIS, I just…" he lowers his head and stays silent. She simply throws her arms around his waist, hiding her face in his chest, and he hugs her back. They stay like that for a moment.

Her voice was muffed by his chest, "you believed that things would be different, that after so many taunts and so much mockery, people would start to accept you and respect you for who you are," she steps back and looks up to his face, "not for what they thought you were."

"I was so wrong," he shakes his head at how extremely naïve he had been back then, "in the beginning, it hurt, I never seemed to do the right thing, but later," he looks down at her, and starts playing with her hair, seeing how the curls spring back into form after he stretches it. Pull, stretch, spring back. Pull, stretch, spring back into form, "I noticed that it was who they were, the Boss doesn't really say what he thinks, we have to kind of guess what he wants when he wants things, Tony just… Tony…" She nods, and says "he needs the attention, as he came from a very dysfunctional family and his sole role model of a father is Gibbs, a man who thinks that a headslap is the corrective measure to all and any transgression," they smile at each other, remembering all the times the slap had been given to someone in the team. Joy hasn't received any yet, but she had seen Gibbs doing it to all three of the other agents.

She frames his face with her hands, forcing him to look her in the eye, "I understand and accept his needs, but it is not an excuse to hurt you," she bites her soft lip, and studies his face, "and I will hunt down and make bleed anyone who dares to hurt you, Tim," she says seriously.

He studies her face, "you really would, wouldn't you?" she smiles, but she can't help a single a tear running down her face, "when I was at my lowest point, and you entered my life, you never judged me, or questioned me, you just…" they are studying each other, "you just were there, and there is nothing I'll ever do for you that will return the favour enough for what you did that night."

Her soft fingers start tracing his features, he closes his eyes for a moment and deposits a soft kiss in the palm of her right hand. He opens his eyes, gathers her in his arms, and kisses her.

The kiss gains momentum, as he pulls her body closer to his, and her hands glide through his hair, coming to rest on his neck. His mouth starts to leave a trail of kisses in her neck, "the spaguetti, I need to…" she mutters, but loses her train of thought when he start suckling on a stretch of skin in her neck that makes her weak in her knees, she supports her body on his, "McGee, dinner, I'm hungry," he stops kissing her neck and lifts his head, with a smile in his face, "you may call me Timothy," and kisses her again, "and I'm also hungry." He grabs her by her waist and carries her to the kitchen counter, "and I'm planning to feast tonight," and before she says anything else, he shuts her up with another kiss.

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Reviews are food for my soul.

A/N: Uhm... Bossy Timmy is a sexy Timmy.


	10. Blackmail material

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Set sometime in Season 7. No copyright infringement intended. Not making any money out of it. Etc Etc.

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****_Blackmail material_**

The doors of the elevator ding open, and Hope and two other people come out of it towards Joy's door.

"Are you sure she's home?" the beautiful brunette asks Hope as soon as they step out of the elevator. Tall, with soft curly brown hair and with intelligent bright blue eyes, Dr. Temperance Brennan had a striking figure. She had also a very rational mind, totally dedicated to forensic sciences, being one of the top experts in the field, working as the main specialist in the forensic department of the Jeffersonian.

"Better yet, are you sure she will help us?" Special Agent Seeley Booth, the handsome tall man standing beside Dr. Brennan, looks at Special Agent Hope Buchanan, who shakes her head and waves her hand dismissing his worries, "when I called her earlier this evening, she said she was just going to chill out at home, after a long day of paperwork," she smirks, "she will enjoy having a nice puzzle like yours to sink her teeth in."

The three people approach the door of the apartment, and freeze when they hear something falling in the floor and cracking. They immediately tense and approach the door slowly, the two federal agents drawing their weapons, "what was that?" whispers Dr. Brennan. They hear muffed sounds, like a struggle, and take position at the door.

Agent Booth gets ready to break the door but before he kicks down the door, Bones jumps before him. "STOP!" she leans over and the three adults clearly hear moaning and some type of rhythmic noise, and a female repeating in a low voice, like a mantra "Oh Timothy, don't stop!" A male grunt in answer, and then the rhythmic noise speeds up.

The two women grin at each other, and Booth has an incredulous expression on his face, that rapidly changes to horror, "Are they…" he can't voice his thoughts, but Brennan doesn't have the same problem, and asks Hope, "are they copulating?" Hope's grin gets bigger, she nods and glues her ear to the door. Brennan imitates her. Hope immediately fishes her cell phone from her purse, and starts recording, at the exact moment they hear a male voice, "Oh Joy, you are so…" another grunt, followed by more moaning.

Hope makes a silly happy dance once she recognizes McGee's voice, "I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!" She turns to the Bones and Booth, "she tried to deny it, but I've seen them together, and now…" more moaning and a female sigh can be heard, and Hope is recording everything, "I have proof."

"You are recording that?" Booth looks horrified at Hope, whose grin gets bigger, "of course, that's great blackmail material," they stay silent for a moment longer, and they can hear nothing for some moments.

"Do you think they are done?" whispers Bones, exactly when they hear again the rhythmic thumping and moaning, "I think we should leave, so they can…." says Booth, completely uncomfortable, but the two women look at him, and say, "NO", and glue their ears back to the door, and they are speeding up, and Joy's voice is starting a crescendo wailing cry, "oh Tim, oh Tim, OH TIM!"

Booth blushes five shades of red, as he's getting turned on by the performance, and grabs the arms of the two eavesdroppers and drag them down the corridor, towards the elevators, "I think we've heard enough, we are leaving so they can finish…" they hear a female scream of ecstasy, and a corresponding male grunt, "I wanted to record that" says Hope, slapping the hand dragging her down the corridor, but Booth doesn't let go of her arm. He releases Brennan for a second so he can call the elevator, "I think you have enough blackmail material," the elevator dings and the doors open, and he drags the two women in.

As soon as the doors close, Brennan smiles at Hope, "I'm impressed at his stamina, I believe your sister has found a fine specimen of the male gender to copulate with," Hope's grin couldn't be bigger, as she is reviewing the sound file she just recorded, "I knew these quiet shy types are the most sex-starved ones," Booth can feel his eyebrows rising up to his hair, "What?" she waves a hand at him, "He is her partner at NCIS, a quiet and reserved tech guy, probably hadn't got laid in ages, and he's trying to catch up with my sister," she laughs, "considering my sister's dry spell, they were made for each other."

"How do you know that your sister even had a dry spell?" Booth is looking horrified at Hope.

"Because we talked about it, we talk about everything, especially that," Hope wiggles her eyebrows at him.

"Wait a second, he's her partner at NCIS?" Brennan is more interested in another tidbit of information, "do they even allow that?" Hope shrugs, "there is some kind of unwritten rule about it, she keeps talking about rule 12, but Joy never really was the type who followed rules, she's more interested in breaking them."

She fiddles with her mobile phone, and opens some picture files on it, "I took these pictures when we worked on the KSM bombers' case," she shows the pictures she took while Joy was speaking with Gibbs and McGee in front of the hotel, Joy and McGee walking side by side towards the hotel, McGee leaning over her shoulder to read something on the paper Joy was holding. Booth and Bones see a very tall light haired man dwarfing a brunette woman, with soft curly hair and a curvy body. The way they stood close to each other bespoke familiarity and some pictures clearly showed him looking down at her with a besotted expression on his face, and others showed her looking up at him with a soft smile on hers as well.

"They are very different," says Booth studying the pictures. Brennan glances up at Booth, smiles and looks back at the pictures, "different but matching," she looks at Hope, "they make a fine couple," Hope smirks again, and the elevator doors open and they step out into the building lobby, "I've always known she was a screamer."

NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS

Meanwhile, the two lovers were trying to catch their breath after the little marathon they had engaged in.

McGee has his eyes closed; he feels the aftershocks still running through his body, his arms and legs twitching. He feels soft hands slowly sliding up and down his back, against the ridge of his spine, bringing goose bumps to his skin.

"That was…"

"Yeah, it was…"

He supports his upper body on his arms, his elbows on the floor and looks down at Joy, who has a satisfied smile on her face, her curly hair like a halo around her head. They both are lying on the floor of the foyer, right before the apartment door. They had overturned a small book cabinet in the entrance of the apartment in their rush to make it to her bedroom, and books were spread on the floor. They never made it to the other room.

"That was different," he says with a smile, and plays with a curl in her head, "different," pause "yes, it was," she looks at him, curious, "how?" he grins, and moves his body a little, and look down to where they are joined, "did you have a Brazilian bikini wax?"

Her laughter filled the apartment, "just for you, Tim."

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Reviews are food for my soul.

A/N: Please please check out when Tim meets the parents... and nieces, nephews, uncles brothers and sisters galore etc... in **_Connecting the dots_**, in the crossover section with Criminal Minds. Reviews really make me jump with joy. My special thanks for the amazing Alix33, who supported me throughout these stories and is my own personal cheerleader for the Buchanan clan.

Regarding your comment about getting someone for Gibbs... uhm... I have to think about it. After all, Maggie is a matchmaker expert. eheheheeheh


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